View full sizeBrett Coomer, Houston Chronicle via AP A United Airlines plane, painted with the combined logos of United and Continental, lands at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston in this Oct. 1, 2010 file photo. An Airline Quality Rating released this week said Continental's rank dropped from No. 8 to No. 11 in terms of performance and customer service among the nation's 15 largest airlines.

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Frequent flier Lesley Trattner was so frustrated by the way she was treated the last time she flew Continental Airlines that she fired off a letter to Chief Executive Jeff Smisek to let him know "how awful our experience was."

"It wasn't just the scheduling. It was the rudeness and 'I couldn't care less' attitude of almost every employee we encountered," she wrote.

"I hope that bringing this to your attention will accomplish something positive. Not only for us in this particular situation, for also for airline travel in general. IT HAS DETERIORATED CONSIDERABLY. But I guess we are captive and have no choice."

That's despite the fact that the industry as a whole improved for the fourth straight year, to the best overall score in 22 years.

"Airline passengers are experiencing better performance by the airlines, even though it may cost them more to fly," the researchers from Wichita State University and Purdue University said in a news release this week.

The rating is based on monthly U.S. Department of Transportation data about airlines' on-time arrivals, rate of passengers denied boarding, mishandled baggage and the number of customer complaints for the largest airlines.

Rahsaan Johnson, a United Airlines spokesman in Chicago, blamed procedural and operational changes related to the merger on Continental's lower ranking.

"The steps we took to align Continental and United left some travelers frustrated while they adapted to different ways of interacting with us," including changes in everything from the way they boarded planes to the snacks they got on board.

He said the airlines had more delays in 2011, particularly because of the weather, which caused missed connections, delayed bags and complaints, "all of which figure prominently in the Wichita State rankings."

"So this year we're focusing on giving employees tools to do a better job, and we're improving our airport lounges, installing more extra-legroom seating and upgraded first and business class, and installing larger overhead bins on many planes and inflight wi-fi fleet-wide," he said. "We believe customers will enjoy an improved experience this year."

One flier said he had no complaints about his recent flights.

Hal Becker of Solon, who has flown four times since the Continental name disappeared for good on March 3, said: "Except for the name change, the on-board experience was the same, everything was fine."

Just five years ago, Continental ranked No. 6 among 16 airlines, while United ranked No. 8. The 60-page AQR has never ranked Continental lower than No. 9.

But last year, United's customer complaint rate of 2.21 complaints per 100,000 passengers was nearly double the industry rate of 1.19 per 100,000.

The mishandled bag rate, for example, is measured per 1,000 passengers instead of against the total number of bags, even though fewer people check bags now because of the higher fees.

He said the complaint rate is based on the number of people who complain to the Department of Transportation when most people now complain to the airlines themselves or via social media.

"The DOT is sort of a last resort," he said.

Continental, for example, got 821 complaints in 2011, out of 45 million passengers flown. Problems related to merging Continental and United are also likely to skew results, he said.

"Since they did the switchover in March, they have done a terrible job of getting their (on-phone) hold times down," he said. "There's no question there's going to be more complaints" that will throw off United's data for this year.

The AQR authors did not respond to several requests for comment on their report.

Robert Mann, president of R.W. Mann & Co. Inc., an airline industry consulting firm in Port Washington, N.Y., said that even though the AQR has been produced for more than two decades, he doesn't think it correlates well to airline passengers' experience.

"It's hard to suggest airline service levels are improving, unless it is against ever-lower customer expectations," he said.

Lesley Trattner agrees.

"People are being treated like a herd of cattle," she said.

"I have never been treated like that, not so much nasty as indifferent. Nobody cared. We've flown enough to know that this is not the way it used to be."

Alison Lancaster of Cleveland, an aviation consultant and platinum-level traveler who flies more than 100,000 miles per year, has flown United twice since March 3 and has been not been impressed.

She said the combined airline has lost her reservations, given her the wrong frequent-flier status and mistakenly charged her a $50 last-minute change fee.

"The old United would have fixed it in 3-6 days, complete with email apology and a refund of my $50," she said. "The new United has failed to even send me the dumb 'message acknowledgement' email and hasn't contacted me in any way.

"I miss the old Continental, where the ticket counter check-in people knew me by name, and asked, 'Where to this time, Alison?'"

Sun News Feature

It’s Your Business is a Sun News feature compiled by the business owners themselves to spotlight local small or new businesses on topics such as the business’ specialty product or service, history and any plans for the future. ... Tell us about your business»

Follow Us

cleveland.com is powered by Plain Dealer Publishing Co. and Northeast Ohio Media Group. All rights reserved (About Us).The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC.